Wittenberg University

Education Department Adopted Lesson Plan

Witt Student Name Michaela Bowler

Date 4/4/16

EDUC 323

Course Name

Instructor Dr. McGuffey

Clinical Faculty (CF) Name

CF Approval (Initial)

Grade Level Third Grade

Subject Area(s) Social Studies / Literature

LESSON TOPIC Virtual Field Trip to Ellis Island

Type of Lesson

Small Group

Whole Class

Confidential Information:
IEP Goals and 504 Plans addressed for identified students (first names only):

The Lesson Plan Format document can be downloaded from the Wittenberg website at the following address: http://www5.wittenberg.edu/academics/education/resources.html
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Materials & Resources:

Where did you get your lesson ideas? Provide APA citations for origin of lesson (e.g., original, textbook, internet URL, etc.)
Idea from Dr. McGuffeys EDUC 323 Class.
List and attach copies of handout(s), workbook pages(s), notes, etc. at end of plan
Students will need their writing journals or something to write on.
What technology and how are students using it for this lesson?
Students will be using computers or tablets to access the virtual field trip.
The Big Idea / Enduring Understanding and Essential Question
America is made up of many different people from different countries and cultures that immigrated here through Ellis Island.
Ohios New Learning Standards (ACS) / Common Core State Standards (CCSS):
Educational Standards (for math and science include practice standards)
3. Social Studies. Geography. Human Systems. 8: Communities may include diverse cultural groups.
3. Literature. Writing. Text Types and Purposes. 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response
of characters to situations.
c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
d. Provide a sense of closure.
Anticipated Prior Knowledge
Students will come into this lesson knowing general information about immigration, heritage and culture.
The Lesson Plan Format document can be downloaded from the Wittenberg website at the following address: http://www5.wittenberg.edu/academics/education/resources.html
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Lesson Objectives
3-part measurable objective
The student will be able to walk through a virtual field trip to Ellis Island and learn at least four
new things about the island or immigration that they hadnt known before.

Assessment Guidelines
(include scoring key, rubric, etc.)

Students will be assessed on

whether they can correctly
follow directions and write at
least four new things they
learned about Ellis Island to
their original list.

Instructional Procedures (identify steps in sequential order)

Differentiation
(including IEP goals being addressed)

A. Engage and Explore

1. Start the lesson off by reading the book Coming to America: The Story of Immigration by,
Betsy Maestro. This is a perfect book to start off a unit about immigration and coming to
America with because it focuses on all cultures. As you read have the students think about
and write down questions or vocabulary words they do not know.
2. After reading the book have your students ask their questions and go over any unfamiliar
words with the class by rereading the sentence the word is used in. If you would like write
the word and its definition on the board.
3. Explain to the class that today they will be visiting Ellis Island through a virtual field trip to
learn more about what it was like to be an immigrant and how the immigration process
worked. Have the students pull out their computers/tablets or go to a computer lab. If this is
not an option you can still go on this virtual field trip as a class. If so just project the website
on to the white board. You may also want to put the students into groups of two depending
on if you have enough computers/tablets. You may also want to have the students use
headphones for watching the videos. Make sure that all of the students have found the
website before continuing on with the lesson.
B. Explain and Discuss
1. Start by walking the students through your expectations of them as they attend this virtual
field trip. If possible project the website on to the white board to show the students how to
use both websites. As you do this, highlight the important point or links you would like the

If a student needs a copy of the

text to follow along with make a
copy for them.

For students that make off-topic

comments, remind them to only
raise their hand if they are

The Lesson Plan Format document can be downloaded from the Wittenberg website at the following address: http://www5.wittenberg.edu/academics/education/resources.html
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students to use in both sites.

2. Before having the students start on their own, go over the opening Check Point with them.
Have each students write down any prior knowledge they have about Ellis Island. Once the
students have done this let them begin the virtual field trip. Walk around the room checking
on students and helping them as need be work through the website.
3. Once the students have completed the Scholastic virtual tour have them return to the
original website to learn more about Ellis Island today. After working through this last page
of the website have the students complete the final Check Point by writing down at least
four things they learned from this experience about Ellis Island that they didnt know
before.
C. Closure

answering a question.

1. Once the students have completed the Ellis Island virtual field trip website have them put
If a student needs to type theirs
away the computers/tablets and pull out their writing journals or paper to write on. Explain
out that is fine.
to the students that you would now like them to write about what it would be like to be an
immigrant coming over to America and having to go through Ellis Island. Ask for the
students to focus on using dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to
develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations. You may
also want to ask them to use at least two or three of the vocabulary words you talked about
and defined at the beginning of the lesson.
2. Make it clear to the students that this is just the first of several times they are going to work If a student needs more support
give them a country to focus
on this writing piece. Over the course of the unit they will be asked to pick and research a
on.
country and its heritage from which their character comes from. They will add more and
more detail to this characters life until the last day of the unit in which they will pretend to
be this character as they go through a parent and teacher run role play of going through
Ellis Island.
3. As the students write, answer any questions they may have about the long term goal of the
assignment but focus on helping them get some basic general ideas down on paper. If you
cannot make it through the entire lesson at one time you can break it up into a two-day
lesson, but try to at least complete it in one-day.
Homework & Home Connections:
Students will be asked to go home and share with their families what they learned about on the virtual field trip and if they would like
they can show their families the website.
The Lesson Plan Format document can be downloaded from the Wittenberg website at the following address: http://www5.wittenberg.edu/academics/education/resources.html
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Academic Language/Key Vocabulary: (Words and student-friendly definitions)

Immigration: The act of entering a country to live there.
Immigrant: Someone who leaves their homeland to settle somewhere else.
Steerage: The cheapest passenger accommodations on a ship. The area near the rudder and steering gear below deck.
Assimilation: The process of fitting into a new culture or becoming like others in that culture.
Interdisciplinary Connections:
Writing

The Lesson Plan Format document can be downloaded from the Wittenberg website at the following address: http://www5.wittenberg.edu/academics/education/resources.html
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